is the question of unidirectionality.

Mechanisms

It is difficult to capture the term "grammaticalization" in one clear definition (see the 'various views on grammaticalization' section below). However, there are some processes that are often linked to grammaticalization. These are semantic bleaching, morphological reduction, phonetic erosion, and obligatorification.

Semantic bleaching

Semantic bleaching, or desemanticization, has been seen from early on as a characteristic of

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